古地质事件及古气候的波动会影响物种当前的遗传分布格局。例如，研究显示青藏高原的隆升及第四纪气候的波动对这一地区的大部分物种的遗传结构产生影响。根据地磁学的证据以及孢粉资料显示，天山山脉在第三纪末期经历了强的隆升，而在第四纪末期有着多次的干冷-暖湿的循环。而天山山脉的古地质事件及这一地区第四纪气候的波动对物种当前的遗传格局影响的研究相对较少。
中科院新疆生态与地理研究所生物地理与进化研究组硕士研究生姜小龙在导师张明理研究员的指导下，选取沿天山分布的准噶尔乌头物种组（包括林地乌头、准噶尔乌头和多根乌头）探讨了这一地区的气候及地质事件对物种遗传格局的影响。对采集到的18个居群146个样本的两个叶绿体DNA序列（psbA-trnH和trnS-trnG）分析显示：物种间存在强的限制性基因流，物种间的分化发生在第三纪末期到第四纪初期之间。
研究结果表明，物种间强的限制性基因流可能是由于种子有限的扩散能力及物种间不同步的花果期导致的；伊犁河谷和奇台地区是准噶尔乌头物种组的潜在冰期避难所；林地乌头经历了两次从西往东的扩张，其中一次的扩张跟末次间冰期的暖湿环境有关；物种间的遗传分化是天山的隆升导致的，而种内的遗传分化跟第四纪气候波动有关。
相关研究结果在线发表在《植物系统学与进化》（Plant Systematics and Evolution）上。（生物谷 Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐的英文摘要
Plant Systematics and Evolution Doi：10.1007/s00606-013-0859-x
Phylogeographic patterns of the Aconitum nemorum species group (Ranunculaceae) shaped by geological and climatic events in the Tianshan Mountains and their surroundings
Xiao-Long Jiang, Ming-Li Zhang, Hong-Xiang Zhang, Stewart C. Sanderson
To investigate the impacts of ancient geological and climatic events on the evolutionary history of the Aconitum nemorum species group, including A. nemorum s. str., A. karakolicum, and A. soongoricum; a total of 18 natural populations with 146 individuals were sampled, mainly from grassy slopes or the coniferous forest understory of the Tianshan Mountain Range and its surroundings. Two cpDNA intergenic spacer regions (trnS-trnG and psbA-trnH) were sequenced and 16 haplotypes were identified. These were clustered into three divergent lineages which almost entirely corresponded to the three species. Analysis of molecular variance indicated restricted gene flow, mainly among species. High levels of genetic distance were detected among eastern populations in A. nemorum s. str. and A. karakolicum from spatial genetic landscape analysis. Neutral tests and mismatch distribution analysis suggest that A. nemorum s. str. experienced demographic expansions during interglacial periods. Based on haplotype distribution and the median-joining network, it was inferred that this species underwent two periods of eastward expansion. Our molecular dating indicates that the lineages of the complex separated during the period of the late Tertiary to late Pleistocene (11.74–0.064 million years ago), which was most likely triggered by recent rapid uplift of the Tianshan Mountains, while genetic variation at the intra-specific level might be attributed to climatic cycles in the late Quaternary.
